Fire, Magic, and Gems
by Storyboard Sketch
Summary: It sucks when you can't easily talk to your new school mate, but that doesn't matter right now since Kaito seems to have attracted the attention of something out of nightmares. Can he catch this flaming creature before it burns him to the ground? RATE and REVEIW PLEASE!
1. Language Barrier

This new OC came out of a dream I had, and I'm bad at Japanese so… I'll do a little thing here to inform you guys on a few things.

Normal text  
Speaking in english  
_Thoughts_  
**translated animal speech**

* * *

"Quick! Get those sprinklers on!" The head of the New York police called out to the other members. "We can't let it escape again! And get those police dogs out to the grounds!"

They were all running around like ants as a high schooler walked past the museum calmly, her shoulder bag firmly tucked under her arm. She paused only to look back at the fleet of blue uniforms as they vanished towards the park and around the corner.

After a moment of silence, a mischievous smirk spread across her face. "Baka…baka Inspector Jones…"

She turned and smiled up at the moon, letting its soft light shine on her pale skin and short auburn hair. _"So tomorrows' the day huh? Figures…I won't be able to plan one last hunt before then._"

The girl slipped into an alley reached in her bag, pulling out one hand painted porcelain mask. "At least… I can say goodbye to the boys."

"FIND THAT FOX!" The sudden out burst was enough to make her let out a squeak of alarm.

_"Shoot! Jones is back already?"_ She stripped off her uniform and changed into her other outfit as fast as she could, stashing her bag behind an air conditioning unit. _"Time to vanish and make an entrance."_

"Where is it, Zeus?" The bulky man looked down at the doberman beside him. "We have to get it! For the sake of all things sane!"

**"That and she's made me look like a dumb pug far too many times!"** The police dog growled as he tried to pick up the scent of a fox anywhere nearby.**"What was with her today anyway? She didn't talk much at all….that Fire Kitsune."**

**"Well…sorry for not saying anything officer."** Those annoying yips and barks, the doberman's head snapped upwards to glare at the creature above him.**"but…I'm afraid that this is the last time I can play Chase with you and the rest of your owner's unit."**

"There it is! The fox spirit!" Jones stared at the creature for this was his first time seeing it himself. "Finally…after a whole year of chasing after your tail, I lay my eyes upon you."

The flickering light of the fire that made up the spirit's body flickered and wavered in the wind. The face of the creature was solid though, a white mask-like face with small eyes as dark as the night around them and bright red markings on the fore head and cheeks.

**"Heh, its good to meet you in person too Jones."** The fox slinked to the side slightly. **"Zeus… You've been a good challenge to me. It has been a pleasure to compete with you."**

**"What are you talking about?"** He barked at her, as she stood up above him on the balcony. **"You're talking in riddles again! Be straight with your words you pest!"**

**"Oh Zeus…"** The Scarlet Fox's head dipped down slightly as she finished her answer in a whisper. "You always were the stubbornest pup in my class…"

His ears perked up at hearing a human voice from the creature above him and his demeanor changed as he realized who it was that was above him. **"No….It can't be…."**

**"Goodbye Zeus, hold down the fort for me."** There were pauses in her sounds, probably holding back tears. **"You're a good boy Zeus…one of the best. Give Lilly my best too."**

With that the fox fled across the balconies and up a ladder to the roof where Zeus lost sight of her. He ran to the door to the stairwell though and scratched at the door, trying to get through it any way he could.

"Zeus! Come!" He felt Jones grab his collar and try to get his muzzle on him.

**"No please!"** He whined, struggling to get out of the collar and muzzle. **"Let me go after her! Let me just talk to her! You don't understand! She's just… she's not a…."**

His whimpers were finally quieted when the muzzle was put over his snout and Zeus was lead away from the alley. Defeated and heart broken, all he could do was let out steadily softening whimpers since he couldn't cry like humans.

"Hey…what's wrong boy?" Jones was worried about the dog now as he took him back to the car. "Don't worry pal. We've confirmed it's existence for ourselves, now we can plan a trap for it."

The dog that took Japanese commands and his American cop owner. The costume of false fire and mask was quietly tucked away before a high school girl appeared once more on the street, a sad smile upon her face as she headed home.

_"Don't worry Zeus…."_ She tightly clenched the charm in her pocket with her hand. _"I get the feeling that we'll see each other again. You are after all…"_

"Metantei-san…" She smiled as she remembered that nickname while she passed a late night cafe.

"Hey! Did you hear?" A group of girls had gather around one of the tables, exchanging gossip over sundaes. "Kaitou KID struck again!"

"Oh yeah! I heard about that! It was the Morning Star this time right?"

"Exactly! I heard he snatched it directly off of the lead investigator this time!"

She raised a curious eyebrow. _"Kaitou…KID?"_ Then came the smirk, and a little gem of a thought creeped into her mind. _"That's right…that Phantom Thief 1412. Most of his crimes are in Japan…I'll have to pay him a visit on his next heist, or rather the Fire Kitsune will pay a visit."_

She grinned as she walked a few paces more then stopped in her tracks as she remembered something. "Oh right….there is that one little problem."

_"I can't speak fluent Japanese…."_ Her head and shoulders slumped as she recalled that glaring fact.

* * *

"Ano….Aoko, what is that?" The teen's eyes were firmly upon the little plushie that was plopped on top of the desk beside him.

"Oh you noticed it?" The perky girl beside him beamed with pride. "I ordered it from over seas! Its a plush of a fox spirit that's been frequently seen in America."

"Oh?" He leaned over to look at it closer.

"They say that it only appears on moonless nights with its body completely covered in fire." Aoko closed her eyes as she recalled the articles she had been reading every night. "It takes small things, like forgotten jewelry or a piece of cake left out at a bakery if it's the last slice."

"Sounds like a stray dog." He muttered, quickly dodging a blow from her fist.

"Bakaito is so mean!" Aoko complained, glaring at him. "Its just a cute little legend! Don't tear it to shreds for me already!"

"Come on!" He retorted back at her. "There no way a creature like that could really exist!"

"Is that so?" Akako's voice came from her seat up front and for a breif moment Kaito froze.

"Y-Yes," He quickly put on a smile to hide his worry. "No way at all."

_"Then again…"_ He winced slightly from the memory. _"…I've been wrong about things not existing before."_

"So, what's the latest from Kaitou KID?" Akako looked to Aoko who had been looking up the news on her phone. "Is he going after the Dragon's Scale this time?"

"Yeah," Aoko sighed, looking at the article she had pulled up on her phone. "He's coming this Friday to take it from the exhibit. He'll never learn….that show off thief doesn't stand a chance against Dad and his team."

_"Dummy…"_ Kaito didn't let his annoyance show as he listened to the girl._"You're dad is hopeless without Hakuba or that little Tantei-kun."_

"It is an impressive gemstone." Akako mumbled with a glance towards Kaito's seat, only to find it empty.

"Aiya…." Came the disapointed sigh of the magician. "Still so plain again today…"

A resounding slap was heard throughout the room and everyone turned to see Kaito standing up from the ground in front of Aoko's desk, trying to stifle his mischievous snickering while ignoring the red hand mark on his cheek.

"Kaito…" That growl of a voice sent him into a dodging fest to get away from his infuriated sapphire. "Get back here!"

"You gotta catch me first blue panties!" He stuck his tongue at her as he moved back out of the broom's reach. "Then we can talk!"

"There they go again…" The teacher sighed as she watched the two in the back.

"Tsk! Always the same…" Hakuba smirked, rolling his eyes slightly at the magician's antics.

Kaito was busy making confetti come out of Aoko's hair and shirt when the classroom door opened making everyone freeze and look towards the unexpected arrival.

_"Huh? A visitor this early in the year?"_ Kaito himself turned his focus onto the two people who had just walked in. _"Come on…I haven't been that frequent with my tricks to earn a visit from the principle already…."_

His punishment for looking away from her was a painful blow to his head from Aoko which sent him straight to the floor.

"Ha! That's what you get you idiot!" Aoko huffed as she shouldered the staff of the broom and turned her back to him.

"Ouch ouch ouch…." He muttered a quick pained phrase and rubbed the new injury with his right hand as he used the other to sit up on the floor.

He looked up to see a pale skinned hand being offered to him. They were the smallest fingers he had ever seen, the skin tightly hugging onto the bone but they weren't unhealthy looking. The nails were trimmed very short, only to the end of the finger and not beyond it. His eyes journeyed up further into the round amber eyes of a foreign girl with light auburn hair. Kaito had never seen her before but…she had to be a student here since her uniform was the same as Aoko's, granted it was a size smaller however.

"Are you alright?" She asked him with a concerned look on her face, her helping hand still being offered.

_"English?"_ He blinked upon hearing that language from the foreign girl. _"So a transfer student…"_

"She asked if you were alright." Hakuba translated the stranger's speech for him blandly.

"Oh! Um, yes." Kaito nodded his head to the new girl as he let her help him to his feet. "Thank you."

"No problem" She smiled at him kindly and at least he new what that meant.

"Miss Muta, please come back up to the front," The teacher called to the girl from the board. "We still have to introduce you to the class."

"Oh sorry," The girl apologized to the teacher and then bowed slightly to Kaito as she excused herself to return to the teacher's side.

Kaito returned to his seat feeling slightly curious about the transfer student, "Poor thing doesn't know much Japanese at all… What is she doing here then?"

"Dunno." Aoko shrugged, sitting down once more as well. "I heard we were getting a new student but…I didn't expect this."

"October 1st, 9:30 am, 03 milliseconds." Hakuba muttered, making a note just incase. "Humph, she's almost right on the mark."

"Class, this is our new student," Their teacher motioned to the new girl who stood at the front, facing the whole class. "This is Muta Flor from the United States of America, now she can't speak much Japanese herself so the head master has asked our class for a favor. Hakuba-san?"

"Yes?" The detective looked up from the textbook he had been looking through.

"Will you be willing to help Muta-san during her classes?" The teacher asked him politely. "You are fluent in English after all."

"Heh," The half Brit smirked and closed his book. "I have no objection to that. Miss Muta is welcome to sit by me."

Flor perked up slightly from staring at the floor and picked up her bag to move to the empty desk beside Hakuba. "Thank you Hakuba."

"My pleasure." He nodded to her and then glanced back at the angry pack of wolves that were glaring at the new girl.

"Oi, be nice girls" The teacher shot a humbling look at the girls of the class room. "She just got here and- Oh!"

"Hmm?" Kaito turned to follow the teacher's gaze and almost fell out of his chair. "H-hey! That's one of my doves!"

Haku, one of the doves he used in his tricks had lighted upon Flor's finger and was now cooing contently as the American stroked the feathers upon its chest calmly.

**"You should return to your master Haku."** Flor gently cooed to the dove as the teacher scolded the boy in the back for bringing a pet to school with him….again. **"What's that magician's name anyway?"**

**"His name is Kaito, his other name is Kuroba."** The bird told her, fluttering his wings for a more comfortable position upon her hand.

"Haku!" Kaito called his bird and the dove swiftly returned to him. "How'd you get over there anyway?"

He eyed the new girl with a wary gaze as Flor's attention was on the board ahead of her. _"How did she do that? My doves only respond to my commands…unless, she's a magician too."_

_"Kaito's a magician huh?"_ Flor focused on the lesson while out of the corner of her eye she watched Haku fly out the window on his master's command. _"At least I'll get used to magic."_

Behind her, a set of eyes narrowed at the back of her head as Akako's suspicion was raised by the event she had just seen. The witch took out a small pocket mirror and opened it to check something.

"Mirror, mirror in my hand," She whispered the spell. "Show me this week's end."

The reflective mirror went foggy and dark for a moment just before flames leapt out at her and bone white jaws snapped at the coat of a familiar Phantom Thief. Akako gasped in horror and snapped the mirror's lid closed, earning her stares from all around her however she ignored them and tried to steady her shaking hands.

_"I-It came here….the fox spirit…"_ She shivered and looked back at Kaito who was quite confused by her actions. _"Kaito…that girl, she brought it here…and it will come to hunt KID."_

_"Akako's pretty shaken,"_ Kaito took this to mean something bad was coming and as he spotted Hakuba speaking with Flor, he frowned._ "Oh…right, Hakuba's got that look again. Jerk… He's gonna bring her to the next heist since can't disguise myself as her because my English is limited. Looks like I'll need to talk to Mom about some phrases in English."_

He had already planned out this next job and he wasn't about to change it when he hadn't even sent out a notice yet. He was not going to back down just because Hakuba had a new girlfriend….

He blinked.

Girlfriend?

A mischievous smirk came to his face as delightful pranks for Hakuba came to his mind. The new girl had brought with her new ammunition against the detective. He would have to drive this stake in as far as he could then as KID….oh yes, this was JUST perfect.

Hakuba looked back at the smirking Kaito then away. _"I just dug a hole for myself didn't I?"_

"Hey Hakuba," Flor's voice came so unexpectedly that he almost forgot to keep his emotions in check. "Why are you taking notes on Kaitou KID in class?"

Opps! Right, he couldn't do this here anymore. Flor could read English too well so he quickly made up an excuse about being bored and closed the notebook, placing it back in his bag. He would have to take mental notes on Kaito then write them down later once he got away from the school. Wait a minute, how did Flor know about KID? He would have to ask later, for now he tried to pay attention to the history lesson then, when Flor asked, helped her with her homework before the last bell rang.

"Oi! Muta-san!" A bunch of the girls gathered around her desk then muttered amongst themselves for a good minute.

_"Idiots…you'd better know some proper English."_ Hakuba sighed as he shouldered his bag and walked out of the room.

"You want to ask?" One of the girls whispered.

"N-No way! I can't speak English!" The other one whispered.

"Alright…enough of this." Kaito sighed and closed his cell phone, walking over to the group and addressing the new girl. "…umm… Muta-san, welcome to our class."

He smiled a bit at the new girl and with a puff of smoke, conjured a red rose from his hand. "My name is Kaito Kuroba, and you are now my friend."

Everyone was silent for a moment as they watched Flor's reation, slowly a smile spread upon her face and she stood up to accept the magician's gift. "Thank you Kuroba-kun. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"EEEEEEEEHHHHH?!" The class gasped at hearing her speak Japanese.

"Meep!" Flor flinched, letting out a mouse-like squeak from being startled.

"Huh?" Kaito blinked in surprise upon hearing that.

"K-Kawaii…" Muttered the boys in class.

"W-What?" Flor looked away, holding the flower gently in her hand against her chest. "That's an easy Japanese phrase to say…"

"Um…How old are you?" One girl spoke up, having taken out her English textbook from her bag.

"Ah!" Flor smiled at the brave girl who had spoken. "Sixteen!"

"Six…teen?" The girls guessed then smiled happily.

Kaito smiled at seeing the poor girl so flustered about her few known words of Japanese. _"Well….at least we'll all be paying more attention in English class from now on."_

_"Looks like she'll fit right in."_ Aoko smiled at the rest of the class as they all gathered up their bags. _"Maybe I should ask Dad for a Japanese to English phrase book?"_

As Flor gathered up her things and walked out of the classroom, smiling at the rose that the class magician had given her. Kuroba Kaito… He was indeed a magician, but there was someone better out there. She gently touched the flower that she had placed behind her ear earlier and headed off towards her new house.

"Hey, Flor." Hakuba's voice caught her attention and she turned to face him as he walked alongside her. "Tell me, how'd you know about Kaitou KID?"

"He's internationally famous right now Hakuba." She told him, brushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "I heard about him back home. That's all, I promise."

"I see…" So he was a little behind it all, Spider moved all over the world while KID remained in Japan yet both were already globally known. "Thank you, I will take my leave now."

"Goodbye Hakuba." She waved to his back as he left. "What a weird guy…"

"Muta-san! Wait up!" Aoko's voice made the American look back as the two students from before caught up with her. "Ano…English…english right…We would like to walk with you."

"Mmm!" She smiled on the outside but was wondering if it was a good idea on the inside. "Sure."

Kaito caught a glimpse of the new girl pocketing something that looked like a notebook into her bag. _"Oh? Impressive, she snagged that tantei-san's book without him noticing. But…why? Wait…"_ His poker face was instantly on to hide his suspicion. _"Don't tell me…"_

"The Dragon's Scale huh?" Flor mumbled as she looked at the news on her own phone. _"The world's second largest diamond with a starburst pattern on the inside and…."_ She squinted at the image to get a better look at the gem. _"…a message written in Norse runes on the back of the gold inside. Oh!"_ She blinked upon translating the runes mentally then sighed. _"KID…This gem is not yours to steal…"_

"Come on you two!" Aoko called to her friends from up the road a bit.

"Oh! Coming!" Kaito rushed to catch up with the girl as Flor followed behind.

"H-Hey now!" Flor complained as she caught up to them.

Kaito and Aoko tried their best to include Flor in their conversation, but since the girl knew very little Japanese their words were mostly lost on her. Even resorting to a translator on the internet seemed to make her giggle slightly before correcting their words. Kaito's magic tricks needed no translation though, and he was glad to have a new audience for his little acts. Still though, Aoko broke away from the group to head home herself while Kaito and Flor still had a while to walk.

"Um…thank you Kuroba-kun." Flor spoke up with the little bit of Japanese she knew.

"Hmm…for what?" He asked her a little confused.

"Well…never mind…" She shook her head to dismiss the subject.

_"Ugh…stupid language barrier…"_ Flor grumbled in her head. _"Thats it…I'm ordering the language program Mom suggested."_

_"Oh, there's my house."_ Kaito stopped at the gate to his home.

"Hmm? What is it Kaito?" Flor looked back at him then up at the house. "Oh, this must be your place. Okay."

"Huh?" He heard the last word that she said and looked over at her.

Flor waved a goodbye at him then headed off once more. "Bye!"

"Oh see ya Muta-san!" He flicked his wrist a bit to return the wave as the girl vanished around a corner._ "Oh…that reminds me. Muta…it means 'moon' and Flor is 'Flower' put them together and you get Moon Flower or Flower of the Moon."_

He snickered a bit and smirked, opening the door to his house. _"I see…that's why the Magician of the Moonlight caught her attention. Interesting…"_

As the door to the Kuroba house closed, the door to the Muta home opened. Flor stepped in and hung up her school bag with a sigh. She had finished her homework in between classes with Hakuba's help so she had some repairs to do on her costume…no rather, a modification to make on it. For she too had a job to do this weekend.

Flor went into her room and pushed open a small panel in the floor, revealing her old sports bag which held her Fire Kitsune costume and mask. The sly vixen smirked as she picked up the mask and took it over to her desk, placing it carefully down on the news paper. Carefully, the teen removed the small night vision scope from the inside of the mask's eyes and examined the lenses.

_"Humph, cracked. Figures…after the flight here, it makes sense."_ She sighed and placed the old scope to the side and opened a drawer to take out a new device.

The small device was as thin as a pair of glasses yet worked much better than her old scope, it had some added features too. Tracking, scanning, bullet proof glass, and heat vision too. Flor smiled at how her mother's old friend had sent it to her on the belief that it was for a deer hunt…well that wasn't the true prey she was after but it got her what she needed. She rewired the button to change the sights to the side of the mask where she could easily reach it, yet the false fire of her costume could keep it hidden. Flor then inserted the glasses into the place just behind the eyes of the mask.

"Perfect fit." She breathed a sigh of releif for that, she didn't want to have to mold a new mask. _"Now… The police scanner."_

She picked up the small device and attached it on the inside of the mask where her ear would be. Then she grabbed the last bit of technology, her mother's brilliant device…a mind wave reader that would open and close the jaws of the kitsune mask the moment she thought of it. She placed the crown of brain wave readers on her head to check the movement of the mechanical jaws. The motion was swift and natural, almost exactly like a real fox's mouth. She grabbed one of the stones that she used as a paper weight and tested the strength of the grip and how much weight the teeth in the mask could support.

"Hmm…well I won't drop anything that I bite at least and I should be able to carry the weight of a large gemstone like the Dragon's Scale." She dropped the stone into her hand as her thoughts were spoken aloud. "However, something larger than that might be a bit harder to handle. I'll have to be careful."

She took off the jaw mechanism and placed it beside her, flipping the mask over so the painted side faced her. Now she could see where the old paint was falling off and the decorative pain had worn away. Flor picked up the fine sand paper from her desk and gently removed the old paint, leaving only smooth metal. The girl picked up a brush and dipped it into a melted rubber material, coating the whole mask with a skin-like sheet. Putting down the brush she reached for the paints she had prepared earlier and removed the plastic covering from the pallet, tossing it into the trash can nearby. Carefully, smoothly, the whole mask had been repainted with a dazzling white while the eyes remained shiny black slits.

Flor put down the mask so it could dry overnight, then turned to look at the time: 8:30 pm. No wonder she was tired...but there was still one thing she had wanted to do before tomorrow.

A yawn escaped her mouth and she gave in to her tired body. She would finish the costume in the morning, all she had to do was replace some of the blue and orange bulbs she used for lighting up the white silk flames. She had found a version of the lights she used that would actually stay cool and last for about 60 days longer than her current ones. She would need them to play her part at KID's heist tomorrow night.

_"Kaitou KID..."_ She looked out the window at the sky with a serious expression._ "Your next prey...is also mine. I can't let you take that diamond, for it is not yours to hold."_

* * *

_Author's note: Im not too pleased with this chapter but I promise you that more chapters shall be longer. Please rate and review so I can make this better!_


	2. Show Thief

Normal text  
Speaking in english  
_Thoughts_  
**translated animal speech**

* * *

_Tonight, I shall come at 9:47 for the Dragon's Scale._

_-Kaitou KID_

* * *

He didn't have the patience for an elaborate riddle this time, since the Dragon's Scale didn't exactly have much information or myths surrounding it after all. All the more reason he was hopeful that this one might just hold Pandora within it. For such a thing as that legendary gem would likely be hidden by history to prevent people like those from the organization from finding it. Kaito sighed and pulled down his hat to hide his face more as he slipped the envelope with his notice into the police mail box for Nakamori to receive, then walked away from the tall building. He had announced that he would steal something today in front of the inspector during his last heist but he had never said what it was. His actual target was going to be the Hydra's Eye, the largest lapis-luzili in the world.

_"Oh well, my audience is expecting me."_ He shook off the disappointment of having to change his plans, and replaced it with his trademark smile. _"There's still a few hours left until showtime…what to do until then?"_

"Kaito!" A familiar voice caught his attention and he looked up to locate the source.

"Aoko-san." He smiled at his friend and walked over to where she was sitting.

Aoko was waving at him from a table outside of a small little ice cream shop, in front of her sat Keiko and their new school mate, Flor. Each one had already gotten their ice cream; Aoko had chocolate and her's was nearly gone, Keiko was staring at her empty sundae glass, while Flor hadn't seemed to touch her bowl of vanilla but instead was focused on Hakuba's notes. Kaito sighed in annoyance upon seeing the girl reading through the book but he wasn't too worried, since the amused smile on Flor's face told him she didn't approve of Hakuba's deductions.

"Good morning Kuroba-kun!" Keiko smiled up at him when he approached, trying to hide her earlier slump.

"Morning." He returned the greeting and looked to Aoko. "What are you doing here Aoko?"

"Ah! How rude!" She huffed then looked at Flor. "I thought that Keiko and I could show Muta-san around town then take her to the museum tonight. Her mom said that she's has been really curious about that petty thief."

"Oh, so her mom speaks Japanese then?" He asked, taking up the last empty chair at the table.

"Yes," Keiko nodded in response to his question. "But she was so busy working that she forgot to teach Muta-san how to speak it before they moved."

"I see…" He felt a bit sorry for the foreign girl, surrounded by friendly people yet unable to speak to them.

"Muta-san, your ice cream's melting." Keiko nudged the distracted girl to get her nose out of the stolen notebook.

"Hmm, what?" Flor looked up and then saw Keiko indicate the melting ice cream. "Oh! Sorry, Hakuba's notes are just so….odd."

She put down the note book and proceeded to at least attempt to eat what parts of her ice cream hadn't melted yet, while the three Japanese students chatted small talk amongst themselves. Eventually the chatter fell between Keiko and Aoko while Flor had reopened the notebook and took out a pen to write down something on an empty page and circle a few facts that Hakuba had forgotten about. She was determined to prove that her first (self proclaimed) friend in Japan was innocent of all that Hakuba was accusing him of. Flor liked Hakuba but, more like a teacher than a friend.

Kaito on the other hand was running through preparations in his brain for the heist. He had nearly gone through the list when he realized the one thing he hadn't planed on this time…was Flor still having Hakuba's notebook. For a split second, it crossed his mind to take it from her when she wasn't looking but that would've been calling out to Hakuba that he had been right about Kaito's identity. He looked up at the clock to check the time, only about three hours left. Soon, Aoko would get up in order to take her father his bento box for the evening and as usual he would come along. Keiko would leave for home and Flor would probably go with the other two to the heist like Aoko had said.

"Hmm?" He looked up when he saw Flor closing the notebook, a pen in her left hand. _"Left handed? But she was eating with her right hand. Is Muta-san ambidextrous?"_

"Oh!" Aoko just noticed the time and stood up, grabbing her purse and the bento beside her. "Muta-san, we should get going. Dad likes to boast about his plans to catch Kid and if we don't go now we won't be able to get out of the museum before all the chaos starts."

Flor just stared at her for a second before letting out a light laugh and grabbing her bag. "You know I can't understand a word you're saying but I guess we should get going."

Aoko blushed as she remembered that Flor couldn't speak Japanese but at least the other girl seemed to understand the meaning of her words. Kaito just snickered at the whole scene and the adorable embarrassment that Aoko received from it.

"Oh stuff it Kaito…" Aoko muttered half heartedly, in truth she was glad that he was there to remind her how silly it all was.

"Make me." He smirked at her, amused by Aoko's frail attempt to try and stop his laughter.

Keiko excused herself from the others and after tossing everyone's trash for them into the parlor's trash bin, she left to head home and watch the heist on TV. It seemed Kaitou Kid's "shows" were becoming as popular as soccer games on television since the whole city seemed to enjoy watching the news coverage for each heist. This became clear to all three teens as they approached the museum and Flor pointed over at the news van that had just pulled up to the building.

"Vultures…" The American huffed in annoyance at the news crew as they were pulling out their equipment from the van.

"Yeah," Aoko nodded, not sure what Flor had said but definitely receiving the tone herself. "You'd think they'd get bored of the same thing happening every month."

"Hey hey…" Kaito inwardly frowned as he let out a forced light laugh. "At least Kid's tricks are never the same twice."

_"Well, except that one time with the Purple Nail gems…."_ His mind mentally kicked him for doing that but…what choice did he have then?

"I guess…" Aoko sounded unimpressed as the trio of teens entered the building.

With Aoko leading the way the three of them slipped past police lines, Kaito couldn't help but grin at how easy this all was. Between his disguising talents, Jii-chan, and Akako helping him out that one time, it was going to take nothing short of a confession to convince Nakamori that Kaito had anything to do with Kaitou Kid. Speaking of the officer, as they entered the main room where the jewel was they found Aoko's father checking everyone's face for the hour…just in case.

Kaito hated it when Nakamori did that, nearly one whole day spent on a mask…one pinch and it was gone. However, to keep up appearances…

"Ow!" Flor smacked Kaito's hand away when he had pinched her cheek. "What the heck Kaito?"

"Sorry, had to check!" He held up his hands in surrender while inside he was laughing at Aoko's annoyed face behind the other girl. "You never know if Kid can speak english or not."

Flor just glared at him for a moment before sighing and replying to him. "Kaito…I can't understand you when you talk like that."

A light chuckle made Kaito's apologetic smile vanish into thin air as he turned to shoot an annoyed look at Hakuba who was approaching them…well, Flor but the others were standing with her.

"I'm pretty sure he can't," Hakuba smirked at Kaito, knowingly. "You looked up those phrases yesterday on the internet right."

"Wrong," Katio frowned, already tired of the detective's presence. "I texted my mother about what to say."

"Oh? Is that so?" Hakuba raised an eyebrow inquisitively then was smacked upside the head from behind.

All eye turned upon Flor who had been the one to hit Hakuba, even the young tantei-san was staring at her in bewilderment. Kaito and Aoko looked nervously between from Hakuba to Flor and back again.

"You know, for a detective you really are an idiot." The American glared daggers at the half Brit, and held out his note book for him. "You're blaming the wrong person Hakuba. Here, even you noticed it yet you neglected it."

"I thought you couldn't speak Japanese." Hakuba harshly whispered at her, obviously a little miffed that he had been hit by a girl.

"I can't," Flor was unflinching in her stance. "But I know the look on a detective's face once he thinks he's figured out a case, leaving his mind closed to the possibility that he might've been wrong."

Hakuba visibly cringed under her harsh yet calm words, but the American had a point…it was the one flaw of being a great detective. If they had such a long streak of successful confessions and arrests, over time most with his brain would get over confident and so sure of their selves that they would leave no room for potential error in their brains.

"Hakuba, all the evidence is right in front of you now." She insisted, motioning to the other two. "Kaito comes to these places with Aoko all the time. Don't you think that some of his hair could've fallen during one of those visits? Its well known that Kid wears his face just to infuriate the inspector. He's trying to mislead you into placing the blame on this kid."

"Mmm…" The darker skinned teen hummed a response. _"Come to think of it, Kaito's tricks are really amateur hour."_

Kaito saw Hakuba's eyes soften and a sad, defeated smile come to his face as the detective looked down at his notebook. "I guess… I'll take a second look at my notes then."

"Yeah, you better." Flor's eyes remained hard and accusing as she turned around and headed down another hall. "I'm gonna look around the rest of the museum, I'll be back later."

"Farewell then," Hakuba smiled at her as she left then looked at Kaito. "You're lucky Kuroba-san, it seems that Muta-san found a flaw in my deductions. I'll take a look at them and then come up with a new conclusion. Don't think Kid is safe from me yet."

"Would never dream of it." Kaito flashed the other high schooler a challenging grin. _"Bring it on blondie…"_

_"Your charm is still working on girls eh magician?"_ Hakuba returned the smile before heading to a small secluded corner to read his now edited notebook.

"W-Wait! Where is Muta-san going?" Aoko stopped him for a moment. "Kid might use her face as a disguise."

_"Heh heh,"_ Kaito smiled slightly at how ridiculous that was. _"Not likely…"_

"Oh she went to take a look around the museum," The detective gave the concerned girl a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Muta-san will probably join the crowd once it gathers outside. Since your dad chases everyone except officers out."

"But…" Aoko couldn't find the words to express her concern.

"I'm sure she'll be fine." Inspector Nakamori walked over to them, having heard some of the conversation. "After all, Kaitou Kid has shown no signs that he can speak English. So even if he did disguise as her, we would know straight away."

Aoko just nodded her response and handed her father his bento. Kaito took this time to look around the place as he pretended to join the Nakamori family on the mat while the inspector ate. As the officer explained to his daughter about his plans for the night, Kaito could spot the real plan preparations all around him.

_"Hmm…" _He looked around only when Nakamori pointed out certain things to the teens. _"Shatter proof glass on the skylights, and this is a room in the center of the room so it looks like the hang glider is out of the discussion. An electrified glass box around the gem and a pressure switch underneath if it is moved. The alarm's gonna go off and the cops think they'll tackle Kid when it happens. Shouldn't be too much of a hassle to trick them. Then of course… the night vision cameras in every corner so they can still see in the dark. Those things could bring trouble."_

He spotted the inspector checking his watch: one hour left, time to clear everyone out. Although Kaito acted as if he was leaving, the moment that he saw the crowd outside…he vanished with only the skill that a Kuroba could manage.

"Oi! Kai-to!" He could hear Aoko calling for him in the crowd.

_"Sorry Aoko…"_ The magician thought he must've said this at least once every time he had to don the hat and monocle._ "But this is for Dad…"_

For a brief moment flashbacks to the day of the accident…no, the murder at his father's last show ran through his head. As he was gathering up his iconic Kaitou Kid outfit, he heard the screams start and Kaito jolted to his senses.

"What in the world?" He went pale as the crowd fell silent. _"It can't be them…not now, I haven't even taken the jewel yet. Could it…could it be that, this gem is Pandora after all?!"_

Then he saw what was wrong, the streets up the road were falling into darkness quite rapidly and he only had a split moment to be confused until the museum and every street nearby went dark. Even the lights on all of the cell phones in the crowd blipped out, causing fearful murmuring to spread through the crowd.

"Kid's a bit early isn't he?"

"This is an odd trick."

"I get the street black outs but our phones?"

"Even my tablet computer doesn't work!"

_"Forget the disguise this time,"_ Kaito vanished into a nearby alley made by the museum walls and climbed up the ladder that he had Jii-chan prepare earlier._"Kid needs to be there now. I didn't do this."_

He reached the rooftop as Kaitou Kid, but was met with a new kind of opposition that he had never seen coming. His eyes grew wide behind his monocle upon seeing the shimmering form before him but quickly he put his poker face back on. He had to remain calm, after all…there was a fire here, just not a normal one.

"Well," He smiled his trademark grin at the source of the flame. "This is a surprise. To find you here in Japan…Fire Kitsune."

The creature was the only source of light for miles as the wind tossed around its flickering orange, red, and occasional blue flames as well as his own cape. The beast's mask was a clean white, flawless like his own striking outfit. The black lines for the eyes and the red whiskers were glossy and painted on, were clearly meant to shine in the moonlight. The kitsune was large too, if it stood up on its hind quarters he was sure that it would be nearly as tall as he was….without counting the tail. Behind it he spotted something burning away the skylight and melting the glass straight through, falling down into the room below.

Now he wished he had brought his fire magic set so he could battle this thing flame for flame. For the beast was growling at him and when he took a step to the side, reaching for his card gun, the growl grew louder and more fierce. This was NO pet dog in a suit… Oh no, this was something far more dangerous.

_"My cards won't last long against this thing but…" _He drew his card gun and took aim. _"Maybe I can get the inspector's attention up here and drive the creature off."_

He shot a few cards at the creature, expecting the beast to dodge them so the cards would fall through the gap behind it. All it did though was bite down on each card and held them in its mouth to the awe of the magician who merely smirked.

"Cheeky little vulpes aren't you?" He pretended to be amused, receiving a growl in return.

He watched the kitsune drop the cards before it, then it turned and leapt down the hole in the glass behind it.

"Hey! Get back here!" He ran to the edge of the skylight and looked down into the pitch dark room.

He heard a crash when signified the spirit's effect on the police who hadn't been expecting a spirit to (pun intended) drop in. However he couldn't see it anywhere, nor could the inspector it seemed as he franticly called out orders and didn't even notice the Moonlight Magician above him.

"What was that thing?!"

"It doesn't matter! That beast has the Dragon's Scale! Find that creature! Now!"

"Yes sir!"

"Haku," He took out one of his doves and whispered commands to it. "Find it. Go!"

When he released the dove into the museum he backed away from the skylight but not before spotting something very wrong with this scene…the Dragon's Scale was gone. The empty case was illuminated by the moon's rays as they fell from the melted skylight, the glass case had also been melted through leaving the empty stand that once held the large diamond.

_"I see," _Kaito's eyes narrowed at the box before dropping down into the room._"Without electricity all of the inspector's preparations are useless. The alarm for the pressure switch won't go off, the glass box is left exposed, the cameras are useless, and the officers cant see a thing."_

"Well…it seems I was beaten to the prize this time." He smirked, getting the inspector's attention.

"Kaitou Kid!" He could feel Nakamori's glare even in this darkness. "What is that thing?! One of your pets?"

"Now inspector," The magician raised his hands slightly to show that he had no attachment to the kitsune. "I just got here, I assure you…the Fire Kitsune takes orders from no one."

"Fire Kitsune…?" The police man seemed to think that over for a moment.

Then a harsh growl caught their attention and a line of fire trailed from the hall outside the room towards them at a high speed. The flames grew larger as they approached and finally from them sprung the fire spirit, scattering the police men everywhere and making Kid move out of the way as it leapt at him. It skidded to a halt then turned and barked at him a few times.

"Don't just stand there you fools! Get them!"

"B-but sir…"

"We can't…"

"WHAT!?"

Kaitou Kid risked a glance over at where the officers all were and saw them all grouped together bound by a strong rope. Nakamori was shouting things and his words were lost among the words of the other officers. He inwardly sighed, all this shouting was giving him a headache.

He pulled out one of his sleeping gas balls, one of the smaller ones, and tossed it over at the officers. As the group fell asleep for a few minutes, he faced the kitsune again.

_"Sorry Nakamori-san,"_ He apologized to the inspector mentally. _"But I cant have you distracting me."_

Another growl from the kitsune brought his attention back around to the beast and he drew his card gun instantly. Seeing the spirit's flames this close however caused the magician to freeze and drag him back to the day he had lost his father…

* * *

_The blazing flames were devouring the stage house so quickly, all he could catch a glimpse of was the flag of his father's magic show falling to the ground while the fire and smoke obscured the rest of his vision. A pillar fell nearby and he remembered that his throat hurt like it was on fire itself, probably from shouting for his father so much. His arm was being held back by his mother who didn't want to lose him too._

_He had left for a moment…just a moment, to fetch his father's cards from the car. Then he had come back with his mother to find that the whole theater was nearly gone already. That fire instilled in him a feeling of both fury at himself and whoever had been stupid enough to let the show catch fire._

_Now he knew better, and his fury was held back for now. Until he could find the gem that had caused all of this bloodshed, Pandora._

* * *

He felt almost a dozen teeth bite into his arm and he quickly tossed off the Fire Kitsune to the side. It was lighter than he had expected, after all…shouldn't the thing have more muscle under its fiery fur? Still though, Kid mentally scolded himself for getting distracted in such a situation. He pulled out a cloth from one of his pockets and wrapped it around his injured arm, remembering to keep an eye on the fox before him.

The creature shook off the impact and got to its feet growling at him. He saw it look up at the big clock on the wall, following its gaze he too saw the time: 10:15. Then the flutter of wings was heard and he looked up to see Haku hovering in front of the fox, twittering as if trying to convince it to leave.

_"Haku move!"_ He mentally shouted, since not knowing where Hakuba was…he couldn't risk giving the bird commands by name.

The Fire Kitsune shook its head to get the bird away from it, backing away swiftly as it was chased by the dove. Kaitou Kid took aim one last time and fired several shots at the fox's paws, forcing it to back off. The beast growled at him one last time before running off into the hall and disappearing instantly. Not like it turned a corner or anything…it just faded out. From the paws up, the kitsune's fire vanished until it disappeared.

Kid sighed, well…there's his first failed heist EVER. At least what he considered to be a failed heist. "Jii-chan's gonna kill me for getting blood on my suit…."

He took out some paper and wrote down a note for the inspector:

_I'm sorry that I was not able to return the gem to you this time. The beast took it away before I could claim it._

_-Kaitou Kid_

At the end he doodled the trademark cartoon image he always added, but this time made it frown instead since he truly failed to get it back for the officers and felt horrible about it. The magician taped it to the glass case that once held the Dragon's Scale, now empty and the glass clearly melted through.

When Haku landed lightly on his shoulder, he couldn't help but smile and gently stroke the bird's feathers. "Thank you, my friend."

The dove merely cooed in response as Kid headed out into the hall and then out of a side exit. In the shadow of the building, he changed back into Kaito's street clothes.

* * *

He merged into the crowd again where he found Aoko and Flor in the center of it all, just as the lights flickered back on around them.

"Guess he never showed huh?" His voice made the girls turn around to look at him.

"Kaito! Where have you been?" Aoko asked him, curious about his whereabouts for the last hour and a half.

"Trying to get the lights back on," He quickly came up with an excuse. "But I couldn't find anything wrong with the wires. I guess the problem was up at a power station down the road."

"Oh, I see." Aoko nodded then looked up at the musem with a sigh. "Looks like he's not going to show tonight, lets head home. I'm sure Hakuba and my dad will give us the full story in class on monday."

_"How could I show my face when someone else preformed instead?"_ Kaito sighed mentally as the crowd began to break apart slowly, including the three of them. _"That…that…what's a rude word for a fox I wonder?"_

Unfortunately he spent most of the next few minutes trying to figure this out but he couldn't come up with anything so he looked up at Aoko who had been trying her best to communicate with Flor. Kaito smirked in amusement, the two girls were really trying hard to understand each other and somehow…it was working in a way.

"What are you doing Aoko?" He asked her, walking up behind them and sticking his head between them so they were forced to include him in the discussion.

He saw Flor laugh at his antics and Aoko just puffed out her cheeks for a moment in annoyance but seeing the other girl laugh at this also caused her to smile. "I'm figuring out just how much Japanese Muta-san knows."

"Oh?" He blinked and then looked from Flor to her and back again. "What'd you get out of her? Would sure be nice to actually understand what she was saying half the time."

"Its mostly all simple stuff," Aoko told him while Flor let them talk, focusing on walking. "Words like, 'kawaii' or 'domo' she knows pretty well. She also knows some law enforcement terms like 'keburi' or 'tantei'. But full sentences escape her."

"Hmm…" Kaito bit his cheek lightly then blinked upon seeing something. "Oi, Muta-san?"

"Hai?" She turned upon hearing her name.

He pointed at a feather that had been caught in her hair, "Tsubasa."

The word literally meant 'wing' but it was the closest he was gonna get for Flor's sake since it seemed like she recognized that word. The girl reached up and removed the white secondary feather from her auburn mane. It must've been blown there by the wind while they were walking from a nearby nest.

"Ah," She smiled and pocketed the small feather. "Thank you Kaito-kun."

"Sugoi…" Aoko marveled, putting her hands together in joy. "Nice job Kaito!"

"Heh, you just gotta know what word to say." He laughed, grinning smugly at being able to talk to their friend before Aoko could figure out how.

When the tune of a certain school yard melody caught their attention, Kaito and Aoko looked at Flor who was smiling slyly at them while humming it.

"B-Barou!" Kaito retorted at the American, his face feeling slightly warm from this teasing. "It's not like that!"

"Y-Yeah!" Aoko agreed quickly while Flor just giggled at their reactions. "We're just friends! Friends!"

"Sure." Flor muttered sarcastically, placing her hands in her jacket pockets. "Whatever you say you guys."

Still the two couldn't stay mad at their classmate, after all…this was the first **real** discussion they had had together. Not from reading text books or asking for a translation from someone else. Even Aoko, holder of the famous Nakamori temper, was able to swiftly recover her smile.

"Hey Muta-san," Aoko was very careful about her word but she said them with a smile of excitement upon her face. "What do you do?"

"Nani?" The American asked, missing some of what Aoko had said.

"What do you do?" Aoko repeated, hoping it was a phrase that Flor knew. "Tantei-san?

"No," The other girl shook her head with a laugh, now understanding what she meant.

"Hmm, guess she can't reply to a question like that without a larger vocabulary." Aoko sighed, slightly upset that she couldn't find an easier way to ask her.

"Flor want's to be a veterinarian someday but for now she's just a dog trainer." A new, more mature voice caught their attention as a blue chevy car pulled up beside them on the street. "Hello Nakamori-san, who's your friend?"

A woman wearing a neat, black business dress was sitting in the driver's seat. Her features mirrored Flor's nearly perfectly except her eyes were green and her hair a dark brown. Kaito didn't even need to ask to know who this was just from seeing her in person and looking back at Flor.

"Oh, hey Mom." Flor was slightly baffled by her mother's presence.

"This is my best friend Kuroba Kaito," Aoko introduced the magician to the older woman. "He came with us to watch Kid's heist tonight. Kaito this is Muta Janice, I told you about her earlier."

"Ah yes, I remember Nakamori-san mentioning you this morning," Janice's attention fell upon Kaito and he kept his poker face on since he felt like cringing under her gaze. "Touichi's son I do believe?"

The mere mention of his father was enough to break his mask to pieces as his focus was now on this woman. Questions rushed through his head but Flor stepped forward to speak to her mother so he didn't get the chance to ask them at that time.

"What are you doing down this street Mom?" Flor asked the older woman, curiously. "Isn't your work in the opposite direction."

"Yes, but my boss said that with the heist going on tonight no one was going to come in today," Janice simply smiled at her daughter, reassuring her worries. "So he let us all off early so we could watch but I took the chance to get something to eat. I'm headed home now, do you want a ride sweet heart?"

"Sure but…" Flor looked back at the other two who were watching in confusion. "Only if you drop my friends off along the way."

"Alright dear," Janice smiled and looked back up at Aoko and Kaito. "Would you two like a ride home? Flor says you don't live too far from us."

"Oh thank you!" Aoko sighed in relief, she had been on her feet for most of the day so a car ride was quite welcome right now but she looked to her best friend for agreement. "Come on Kaito, lets go with them."

Kaito looked a bit thoughtful for a moment since he had to chose between learning more about his father or possibly ruining Mrs. Muta's car seats with his hidden injury. "Alright, why not?"

Janice smiled and looked to her daughter. "Get in Flor, your friends will follow."

Flor's face instantly lit up and she opened the back door to get into the back seat, sliding over to the farthest one and placing her book bag at her feet.

"Nakamori-san! Kaito-kun! Hiyaku! Hiyaku!" She beckoned her friends to hurry up since, with her mom present she could finally talk with them.

"Alright alright," Aoko laughed as she put her bag in the car first then climbed into the back beside Flor. "Come on Kaito!"

"I'm coming…." He sighed rolling his eyes and sitting down in the passenger seat up front beside Janice.

As they closed the doors and buckled their seat belts, the car began to leave the shoulder for the main road. As Janice drove the discussion started, beginning with Kaito's questions.

"So," His tone was blunt, as it always was when it came to talking about his father. "How do you know my dad?"

"Ah that," Janice smiled sadly as she remembered what had happened. "I met him on one of his American tours a couple years ago. As I recall… My daughter back there was called up on stage as a temporary assistant for one of Touichi's famous tricks. He must've heard about it being her seventh birthday back then. She ended up with about seven doves perched on her arms, shoulders, and head."

"Oh," He remembered hearing about that show since he hadn't been able to go with his dad on that tour, he looked back at Flor. "That was you Muta-san?"

"Flor?" Janice called back to her daughter in English, making her look up. "You remember that time we went to a magic show when you were little?"

The teen smiled and looked out the window as she recalled that memory. "How could I forget? Ever since then I've loved both magic and animals."

"What did she say?" Aoko asked Janice, wanting to know the full conversation.

"She said that she remembers that show," Janice translated for the other two with a smile. "It's the reason why she's been a fan of magic and animals ever since."

"You mean, she's a magician too?" Aoko looked at her friend in curiosity, but it sent a nervous jolt through Kaito.

"Oh no," Mrs. Muta laughed at hearing that. "Magic is a talent that you either have or you don't. You can't just learn it easily. However….she does have a certian talent that some other magicians often say is a magic trick they wished they could mimic."

"Oh?" Kaito looked at the woman beside him, wondering what kind of trick was like that.

"Yes," Janice rolled down the window beside Flor as they came to a stop. "Flor, have you shown them your "chorus" yet?"

Flor just smirked wryly and leaned out the window slightly, cupping one hand around her mouth as she made a twirring sound like a bird call.

"Cute, but it's not all that-" Kaito was silenced by Flor's hand coming up to tell him to wait a moment.

Then the trees exploded into several octaves of bird songs, a beautiful melody that would never be heard normally at this time of night. There was silence in the car except for the sounds of amazement from Kaito and Aoko as they listened to the music of the night that had been conjured by their new friend. It faded away behind them as the light turned green and the car continued moving.

"That…was awesome." Kaito admitted the looked at Janice. "What in the world was that?"

"To be honest, I have no idea." The business woman shook her head while keeping her eyes on the road. "She refused to tell me whenever I ask so I just gave up on getting her secret out of her."

_"Heh, a different kind of magician." _He smirked leaning back in his chair, that was a trick that he couldn't do…which reminded him. "Hey… Janice-san?"

"Hmm?" She glanced at him briefly.

"What do you know about the Fire Kitsune?" He had lost his smug demeanor for he wanted information on the beast that had ruined the heist.

He saw a flash of recognition in Janice's eyes as well as spotting Flor, turning her full attention upon him.

"Oh yeah," Aoko sounded excited about it. "You guys are from America aren't you? Then surely you know about the Fire Kitsune right?"

"Well, sort of but…" Janice started but she was quickly cut off.

"Why do you want to know about that fox?" Flor's tone was so serious that Kaito felt the glare on the back of his chair.

_"Those eyes….I know those eyes…"_ He glanced back at the amber eyed girl, her eyes piercing into him. _"…But from where?"_

"She asked why you wanted to know about it." Janice took his silence to mean that Kaito hadn't understood what Flor had said.

"Oh uh…" He smiled a bit nervously as he came up with a reason. "I was just curious as to why an urban legend had caught Aoko's attention is all."

After Janice relayed this to Flor, the girl relaxed and let her mother speak.

"Flor know's more about it than I do but I guess I can give you the basics," Janice told him after Flor had calmed down. "The Fire Kitsune first appeared on New Years Eve last year in New York City, it had entered a large toy store in Times Square and had destroyed a number of stuffed toys that were going to be distributed out the next day. After the police arrived the kitsune vanished into the darkness of a side alley. However it was found out that inside of the toys that the Fire Kitsune had torn open, was a large amount of narcotics that were going to be spread out through all of New York. Thanks to that Fire Spirit, the ring leader of the drug trafficking had been arrested and many dealers were off the streets."

"It didn't eat any of it?" Kaito knew that a wild animal would've swallowed at least some of the plants.

"No, that was the weird thing." Janice told him with a bland look on her face. "According to the police, stuffing and fabric was tossed about everywhere but the narcotics hadn't been touched. Although…" She giggled aloud as she remembered one fact. "…the fox seemed to have a weakness for sweets."

Kaito perked up at the word 'weakness' here was something he could use to try and get back the jewel with. "What do you mean?"

"Well, there was going to be a retirement party for one of the oldest workers at the toy store and he was planing on bringing his grandchildren that day," Their driver smiled in amusement at remembering the report. "So there was a large bag of assorted sweets in the back room where the stuffed toys were. Thankfully it only picked out one certain kind of candy called Sugar Flowers before it left the bag alone. Also it raided the sofa fountain for some cola when the creature got thirsty."

"Did it ever show up there again?" Aoko wondered aloud, getting an annoyed look from Kaito.

"Actually yes," Janice nodded as she answered Aoko. "On the anniversary of that event, the workers at the store placed a box of Sugar Flowers and bowl with soda in it on the floor of the store room overnight. The next day, the candy was gone and half of the cola had been drained from the bowl. They told the news papers first and the police force was in an outrage for not being allowed to watch the store that night. Ever since then, its been said that leaving out sakura shaped candies and some cola will attract the Fire Kitsune."

"Ah! Really?!" Aoko exclaimed looking like she just might try it herself.

"Yeah, even the police use it as bait to try and lure out the poor animal." Janice sounded sad about that. "However, it's gotten by them every time and escaped with the sugary treats."

"Mom, you'd better not be telling them about that "bait" are you?" Flor asked her mother as she stared out the window, bored.

"Of course I am sweetie," Janice answered her daughter, slightly worried by her tone. "They did ask me after all."

"….Can I talk with them now?" Came the second question, slightly more delayed than the first.

"Of course love." Her mother smiled gently and then played translator for the teens. "Kuroba-kun, Nakamori-san, I'll be translating for Flor now since she wants to talk with you guys."

"Alright." Aoko said and Kaito just nodded.

"I wanted to thank you guys for everything," Flor told the duo through the translation. "I've been nervous about maybe not being able to make friends here due to how little Japanese I know. Thanks to you two, I'm glad to see that I was wrong."

"It really doesn't bother us all that much," Aoko smiled at her new friend as they were finally able to speak. "It's just nice to see that you're making an effort to learn more."

"Thanks Aoko-chan, I needed that." The younger teenager gave her a grateful smile.

Aoko gasped lightly then grinned after seeing Flor's confused face. "Muta-san! That's the first time you've called me Aoko-chan!"

"Is it?" The other girl blinked then looked thoughtful. "Huh, must be because I'm so quiet all the time."

"Can I call you Flor-san then?" Aoko asked the auburn haired teen beside her.

"I never said you couldn't now did I?" Flor laughed a bit at the question.

"Alright!" Aoko cheered, throwing a fist up in the air but hitting the roof of the car with her hand. "Ow…."

The other two winced upon seeing how hard she hit the metal top.

"You okay Aoko?" Flor asked, concerned for her friend's hand.

"I'm fine," The police man's daughter forced a smile. "It was just unexpected is all."

"Nakamori-san," Janice spoke up for herself as the car stopped in front of Aoko's home. "We're here."

"Ah, thank you." Aoko gathered up her things and got out of the car. "Kaito-kun, Flor-chan, I'll see you guys in school on Monday."

"Bye Aoko." Flor waved at the other girl as she headed up to her front door.

"See ya." Kaito called after Aoko, watching her go.

Janice waited until Aoko was inside her home before leaving that place to go to Kaito's house to drop him off.

"Hey, Flor-chan?" Kaito decided that now would be a good time to bring up something. "You've seen the Fire Kitsune in person haven't you?"

"Many times." Her response was quickly given. "And you've seen Kaitou Kid right?"

Kaito smirked but didn't look back at the girl. "Yeah, during every heist. But then again…so have a lot of people."

"Heh, true." Flor smiled and fell silent as she gazed out of the window.

_"I see him every day,"_ Kaito thought to himself as he watched the street lamps go by. _"Every time I look in the mirror or in a photograph of my dad."_

"By the way…" Flor had one last card of her own to show him. "The Fire Kitsune was there tonight, at the heist."

"Hmm?" His attention was back on her again. "Oh…was it now?"

Flor ignored his false curiosity. "I don't think Kid liked having a fox steal his show and his prize."

"Yeah well, no magician likes someone stealing his spotlight." He commented, trying to remain as calm as possible.

Then the car pulled up to his residence and Kaito got out of the car, bid the two goodnight and headed inside to figure out how to catch something made of fire.

"Young master, welcome back." Jii greeted him home with a smile. "I saw it all on the news, what happened?"

"An urban legend stole my show," Kaito sighed, exhausted by his long day. "It took the diamond too, so I didn't get a chance to see if it was Pandora or not."

He practically collapsed onto the couch, only having enough energy to remain sitting up but he leaned forward anyway, resting his elbows on his knees and letting his head hang down. For Kaito, tonight had been a total mess…at least at he heist it was.

"Ah!" Jii caught sight of a trickle of red flowing down Kaito's hand. "Young Master Kaito! Your arm!"

"Hmm?" He looked up then down at where his father's assistant was staring. "Oh yeah, forgot about that. Oddly it doesn't hurt as much as I thought it would."

"I'll get the first aid kit." Jii swiftly left the room to locate the box while Kaito carefully removed his jacket and rolled up his shirt sleeve.

After removing the makeshift bandage he had on it, Kaito winced upon seeing how much damage had been done to his forearm. Ten of the Fire Kitsune's teeth had penetrated his skin on the top and bottom, leaving neat and round holes that bled profusely. Yet it was a blessedly shallow wound all around. It was a blessing that he had gotten the canine off his arm before it could do worse or penetrate the muscle and major blood vessels. The maximum distance between the two farthest teeth was no more than three or four inches, a narrow jaw line yet capable of grabbing hole of birds in flight.

"A fox bite young master?" Jii observed as he returned with the medical kit. "How in the world did you manage that in the middle of a heist?"

"Kid attracts all kinds of attention it seems." He smirked and placed a small cloth underneath the wound while Jii began to disinfect the wound with a cotton swab. "And that wasn't just any fox."

"Hmm?" Jii hummed while he patched up Kaito's wound.

Kaito relayed to the old man the events of that evening through his moments of silence which were him trying not to yelp from the stinging disinfectant. He told him about the black out that he had not planned or caused, meeting with and fighting the fierce Fire Kitsune, losing the gem and fox just before the lights came back on, and receiving information about the spirit from the Mutas.

However, even after all of this was said…Kaito's wound was still lightly bleeding but Jii bound it up anyway.

"It would seem that fox is going to be quite the problem…" Muttered the old assistant as he put away the medical supplies.

"Yeah," Kaito sighted, flexing his arm to test how painful using it would be. "I thought maybe I could capture it somehow…but how do you capture something that's on fire? I mean, it wasn't hot like fire when I was close to it but I certainly saw the flames myself. What kind of magic trick is that?"

"Hmm…" Jii looked thoughtful as he thought this over. "Oh, hold on."

He went into another room, quickly returning with a section of newspaper. He brought it over to Kaito and indicated one particular article with a photo of a dark skinned teen and a familiar young kid, then above them the arrogant photo of that detective Mouri Kugoro. Kaito ignored the top photo since that wasn't important, but his attention went to the second one. The young boy in the photo had his arms wrapped around a dog that was wearing a white fabric outfit and trying to drown the kid in dog licks.

"Tantei-kun," Kaito took the article from Jii to take a look at it. "Hmm… 'False fire' huh? Intresting…"

A grin came to his face as he read the section of the article detailing the trick that was used to fool so many people. Jii, seeing that Kaito was coming up with a new scheme, left the teenage magician alone to make a plan.

_"How could I not have noticed it?"_ The mischievous glint in Kaito's eyes hinted at his glee in seeing though the trick that he had missed until now. _"Its so simple! Yet, apparently effective. With this…I might just have a chance at catching the sly beast."_

He walked over to the window and looked up at the moon, holding the newspaper at his side along with his empty hand.

_"It's going to return the jewel to it's owner tomorrow." _He knew that for a fact now as his mind worked on a new plot. _"That's my chance to net thar pesky fox. Heh, looks like I'll have a new message to send out."_

A yawn broke his determination and he smiled tiredly, placing the news paper down on the table and heading to bed. That manifesto from Kid to the Fire Kitsune's owner, would have to wait until the morning.


End file.
